***** 2023 Houston Astros Season Thread *****

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The Porkchop Express
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AG
Diggity said:

The Porkchop Express said:

Nolan probably wouldn't do it. He was great as an Angel, only good as an Astro, and legendary as a Ranger. But he's also a rare gentleman who understands loyalty and wouldn't look like he's supporting one over the other.

Pudge played for the Astros about as long as Dwight Gooden did.

That said, I would definitely try to star power the **** out of them for the home games. Like offer Beyonce $1 million to the charity of her choice to come do it. Or JJ Watt since he just got his jersey retired. Or Hakeem. Lay off the Bagwells and Biggios and Mattress Mac's for a while.

And I certainly don't want this to be the case, but if Mary Lou Retton passes during the WS, you definitely get her kids out there to let her get embraced by the city that loved their mom so powerfully in the 80s.


he broke a bunch of longevity records as a Ranger, but not sure how you're qualifying him as "only good' in Houston, when he had a lower ERA (over a longer period) while pitching for the Stros.
Nolan with the Astros:
1980: 11-10
1981 (strike) 11-5, 1.69 ERA - best season by far stat wise, pitched his 5th no-hitter.
1982: 16-12
1983: 14-9
1984: 12-11
1985: 10-12
1986: 12-8
1987: 8-16, with the bizarre leading the league in strikeouts and ERA
1988: 12-11, led the league in strikeouts

Nolan with the Rangers:
1989: 16-10, 301 K (led the league), started the all-star game
1990: 13-9, 232 K (led the league), pitched 6th no-hitter
1991: 12-6, 2.91 ERA, 203 K, pitched 7th no-hitter

Then he broke down. But those 3 years were more impactful than anything that he did with the Astros other than the 1981 year. He put the Rangers in the national spotlight, which I don't think they had ever been in before. He was a must-watch national phenomenon from 1989-1991. That was never true when he pitched for the Astros. He was the first $1 million player in MLB history, and in 9 years with the Astros he averaged 11.7 wins and 10.4 losses per year. Going 12-10 every year is only good. He was nothing like he had been with the Angels, although that was likely from innings burnout.
Prosperdick
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All I do is Nguyen said:

I'm calling it the Phillies close out the Braves tonight and the Dbacks upset the phillies in 6 in the NLCS
Phillies in 7 although if we make the World Series it would be only fitting to face the DBacks since we faced the Phillies in the last series of the regular season last year.
All I do is Nguyen
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Like I did for the ALDS here are all of the highlights of our previous ALCS runs, including the bad ones as well.

I hope I get to do one more of these posts






No matter what!
Epstein didn't do, you know, the thing...
I'm the rare Astros/Cowboys/Spurs fan. We do exist
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scrimp
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The Porkchop Express said:

Nolan probably wouldn't do it. He was great as an Angel, only good as an Astro, and legendary as a Ranger. But he's also a rare gentleman who understands loyalty and wouldn't look like he's supporting one over the other.
I'd agree Nolan's prime years were with the Angels, but the Astros and Rangers years are pretty comparable numbers wise.

Astros: 9 Seasons, 2 AS, 3 CY Top 10.
Ranger: 5 Seasons, 1 AS, 1 CY Top 10.

Most other stats are pretty comparable --ERA better with HOU, W-L% better with TEX, FIP better at HOU, ERA+ better at TEX.
MosesHallRAB04
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Wabs said:

Just watched a highlight of the last batter Pressly faced. That strike 3 pitch was just ****ing awesome. Shaved the outside black and there was nothing the batter could do. ELITE pitch.


I was shocked he went with the fastball. Safe to say everyone but him and maldy expected a breaking ball.
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W
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having Nolan throw out the first pitch...

is kind of a celebration of both teams.

is that what we want to do?

stick with an Astros only legend

or city of Houston only legend
MosesHallRAB04
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The Porkchop Express said:

Diggity said:

The Porkchop Express said:

Nolan probably wouldn't do it. He was great as an Angel, only good as an Astro, and legendary as a Ranger. But he's also a rare gentleman who understands loyalty and wouldn't look like he's supporting one over the other.

Pudge played for the Astros about as long as Dwight Gooden did.

That said, I would definitely try to star power the **** out of them for the home games. Like offer Beyonce $1 million to the charity of her choice to come do it. Or JJ Watt since he just got his jersey retired. Or Hakeem. Lay off the Bagwells and Biggios and Mattress Mac's for a while.

And I certainly don't want this to be the case, but if Mary Lou Retton passes during the WS, you definitely get her kids out there to let her get embraced by the city that loved their mom so powerfully in the 80s.


he broke a bunch of longevity records as a Ranger, but not sure how you're qualifying him as "only good' in Houston, when he had a lower ERA (over a longer period) while pitching for the Stros.
Nolan with the Astros:
1980: 11-10
1981 (strike) 11-5, 1.69 ERA - best season by far stat wise, pitched his 5th no-hitter.
1982: 16-12
1983: 14-9
1984: 12-11
1985: 10-12
1986: 12-8
1987: 8-16, with the bizarre leading the league in strikeouts and ERA
1988: 12-11, led the league in strikeouts

Nolan with the Rangers:
1989: 16-10, 301 K (led the league), started the all-star game
1990: 13-9, 232 K (led the league), pitched 6th no-hitter
1991: 12-6, 2.91 ERA, 203 K, pitched 7th no-hitter

Then he broke down. But those 3 years were more impactful than anything that he did with the Astros other than the 1981 year. He put the Rangers in the national spotlight, which I don't think they had ever been in before. He was a must-watch national phenomenon from 1989-1991. That was never true when he pitched for the Astros. He was the first $1 million player in MLB history, and in 9 years with the Astros he averaged 11.7 wins and 10.4 losses per year. Going 12-10 every year is only good. He was nothing like he had been with the Angels, although that was likely from innings burnout.


W/L record is dumb. This is a great example. lol at the run support he got. None
Diggity
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The Porkchop Express said:

Diggity said:

The Porkchop Express said:

Nolan probably wouldn't do it. He was great as an Angel, only good as an Astro, and legendary as a Ranger. But he's also a rare gentleman who understands loyalty and wouldn't look like he's supporting one over the other.

Pudge played for the Astros about as long as Dwight Gooden did.

That said, I would definitely try to star power the **** out of them for the home games. Like offer Beyonce $1 million to the charity of her choice to come do it. Or JJ Watt since he just got his jersey retired. Or Hakeem. Lay off the Bagwells and Biggios and Mattress Mac's for a while.

And I certainly don't want this to be the case, but if Mary Lou Retton passes during the WS, you definitely get her kids out there to let her get embraced by the city that loved their mom so powerfully in the 80s.


he broke a bunch of longevity records as a Ranger, but not sure how you're qualifying him as "only good' in Houston, when he had a lower ERA (over a longer period) while pitching for the Stros.
Nolan with the Astros:
1980: 11-10
1981 (strike) 11-5, 1.69 ERA - best season by far stat wise, pitched his 5th no-hitter.
1982: 16-12
1983: 14-9
1984: 12-11
1985: 10-12
1986: 12-8
1987: 8-16, with the bizarre leading the league in strikeouts and ERA
1988: 12-11, led the league in strikeouts

Nolan with the Rangers:
1989: 16-10, 301 K (led the league), started the all-star game
1990: 13-9, 232 K (led the league), pitched 6th no-hitter
1991: 12-6, 2.91 ERA, 203 K, pitched 7th no-hitter

Then he broke down. But those 3 years were more impactful than anything that he did with the Astros other than the 1981 year. He put the Rangers in the national spotlight, which I don't think they had ever been in before. He was a must-watch national phenomenon from 1989-1991. That was never true when he pitched for the Astros. He was the first $1 million player in MLB history, and in 9 years with the Astros he averaged 11.7 wins and 10.4 losses per year. Going 12-10 every year is only good. He was nothing like he had been with the Angels, although that was likely from innings burnout.
W-L is a pretty weak argument in general. Much more about the team than the pitcher.

National spotlight was around those longevity records.

I agree he got a ton of buzz as a Ranger (and his longevity was incredible), but that doesn't mean he was a better pitcher at that point in his career.

edit...looks like Moses beat me to it.

Farmer1906
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Speaking of Pressly, Fangraphs just dropped a great article on him and his performance.

Ryan Pressly Pulls the String

Quote:

Pressly faced six Minnesota batters in the team's four-game ALDS victory. He retired all six, five by strikeout. You just can't do much better than that. In the Astros' last three playoff runs, he's thrown 22.2 innings across 21 games and allowed a solitary earned run. That was in 2021, and he got the save anyway. Seems like the old guy still has it.

He has an argument for one of the greatest all-time postseason relievers. He's 3rd all-time in WPA for relievers behind the goat Mariano Rivera & Wade Davis. Keep in mind, WPA is a somewhat newer stat so it doesn't capture "all time".

There have only been 32 pitchers with at least 30 IP out of the bullpen. That alone is pretty elite company

Here is where Pressly ranks:
2.43 ERA (18th)
1.99 FIP (1st)
2.94 xFIP (7th)
--
55 ERA- (11th)
47 FIP- (1st)
69 xFIP- (7th)
--
40.2 IP (12th)
13 Saves (5th)
3 Holds (8th)
0 Blown Saves (tied 1st)
53 Strike Outs (9th)
1 HR (tied 1st)
Texas A&M
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Times he beat Robin Ventura's ass...
Astros - None
Rangers - One

Indisputable evidence he was better as a Ranger.
Farmer1906
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AG
Diggity said:

The Porkchop Express said:

Diggity said:

The Porkchop Express said:

Nolan probably wouldn't do it. He was great as an Angel, only good as an Astro, and legendary as a Ranger. But he's also a rare gentleman who understands loyalty and wouldn't look like he's supporting one over the other.

Pudge played for the Astros about as long as Dwight Gooden did.

That said, I would definitely try to star power the **** out of them for the home games. Like offer Beyonce $1 million to the charity of her choice to come do it. Or JJ Watt since he just got his jersey retired. Or Hakeem. Lay off the Bagwells and Biggios and Mattress Mac's for a while.

And I certainly don't want this to be the case, but if Mary Lou Retton passes during the WS, you definitely get her kids out there to let her get embraced by the city that loved their mom so powerfully in the 80s.


he broke a bunch of longevity records as a Ranger, but not sure how you're qualifying him as "only good' in Houston, when he had a lower ERA (over a longer period) while pitching for the Stros.
Nolan with the Astros:
1980: 11-10
1981 (strike) 11-5, 1.69 ERA - best season by far stat wise, pitched his 5th no-hitter.
1982: 16-12
1983: 14-9
1984: 12-11
1985: 10-12
1986: 12-8
1987: 8-16, with the bizarre leading the league in strikeouts and ERA
1988: 12-11, led the league in strikeouts

Nolan with the Rangers:
1989: 16-10, 301 K (led the league), started the all-star game
1990: 13-9, 232 K (led the league), pitched 6th no-hitter
1991: 12-6, 2.91 ERA, 203 K, pitched 7th no-hitter

Then he broke down. But those 3 years were more impactful than anything that he did with the Astros other than the 1981 year. He put the Rangers in the national spotlight, which I don't think they had ever been in before. He was a must-watch national phenomenon from 1989-1991. That was never true when he pitched for the Astros. He was the first $1 million player in MLB history, and in 9 years with the Astros he averaged 11.7 wins and 10.4 losses per year. Going 12-10 every year is only good. He was nothing like he had been with the Angels, although that was likely from innings burnout.
W-L is a pretty weak argument in general. Much more about the team than the pitcher.

National spotlight was around those longevity records.

I agree he got a ton of buzz as a Ranger (and his longevity was incredible), but that doesn't mean he was a better pitcher at that point in his career.

edit...looks like Moses beat me to it.


I assumed he was just poking fun and trying to rile up others. It's a no-contest. Nolan was still good as a Ranger, but better as an Astro. You can maybe argue he was at his best in 1990, but I would put 87 against it.

HOU - 36.6 WAR, 3.13 ERA, 2.87 FIP, & 206 IP per season
ARL - 21.3 WAR, 3.43 ERA, 2.91 FIP, & 168 IP per season
Wabs
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Chris Russo doesn't think the last pitch was a strike and Correa should have gotten an AB. Other than that, he's pretty complimentary of the Astros and Dusty. Plus he dogs on the Dodgers, too.

High Heat | Mad Dog breakdown Houston Astros advance to 7th straight ALCS with Game 4 win over Twins - YouTube
Prosperdick
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Farmer1906 said:

Speaking of Pressly, Fangraphs just dropped a great article on him and his performance.

Ryan Pressly Pulls the String

Quote:

Pressly faced six Minnesota batters in the team's four-game ALDS victory. He retired all six, five by strikeout. You just can't do much better than that. In the Astros' last three playoff runs, he's thrown 22.2 innings across 21 games and allowed a solitary earned run. That was in 2021, and he got the save anyway. Seems like the old guy still has it.

He has an argument for one of the greatest all-time postseason relievers. He's 3rd all-time in WPA for relievers behind the goat Mariano Rivera & Wade Davis. Keep in mind, WPA is a somewhat newer stat so it doesn't capture "all time".

There have only been 32 pitchers with at least 30 IP out of the bullpen. That alone is pretty elite company

Here is where Pressly ranks:
2.43 ERA (18th)
1.99 FIP (1st)
2.94 xFIP (7th)
--
55 ERA- (11th)
47 FIP- (1st)
69 xFIP- (7th)
--
40.2 IP (12th)
13 Saves (5th)
3 Holds (8th)
0 Blown Saves (tied 1st)
53 Strike Outs (9th)
1 HR (tied 1st)
Just a reminder of who we gave up to acquire Pressly:

Jorge Alcala and Gilberto Celestino

I miss Luhnow.
scrimp
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Agreed. Nolan was getting buzz in Arlington because of the longevity records (5000th strikeout, 300th win) and the unique incidents (Bo Jackson/bloody lip game; Ventura). Throwing the 2 additional no-hitters added on to the mystique. It was great for baseball because of all the unique situations--striking out father/son combos, etc. Nolan was a longevity freak.

The numbers overall boil down to this--he was good but raw in 4 years with the Mets, dominant in his 8 years as an Angel, and damn good for 9 years in Houston and 5 years in Arlington.

Prosperdick
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Wabs said:

Chris Russo doesn't think the last pitch was a strike and Correa should have gotten an AB. Other than that, he's pretty complimentary of the Astros and Dusty. Plus he dogs on the Dodgers, too.

High Heat | Mad Dog breakdown Houston Astros advance to 7th straight ALCS with Game 4 win over Twins - YouTube
That was a perfect pitch right on the black. Russo makes it sound like it was an obvious ball. Now earlier in the game with 2 outs and the runner moving, THAT was CLEARLY a ball and I'm amazed we got the call. Maybe karma catching up with all the hose jobs we received during the regular season and into the post season.
EastCoastAgNc
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Boiling Denim
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All I do is Nguyen said:

Like I did for the ALDS here are all of the highlights of our previous ALCS runs, including the bad ones as well.

I hope I get to do one more of these posts

Man that 2021 ALCS is wild.

**** "Babe Ruth" Hernandez
The grand-slam-a-thon
Games 2 and 3 we're effectively wiped from my memory
The My Time mock with Corra screaming noooo
The missed call on Castro may have changed the entire series
The strike-em out throw-em out has to be an Astros all-timer play

I would not be surprised if this ALCS has a similar feel and similar moments to that one
Cromagnum
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Wabs said:

"I wasn't even ****ing here" - JV

Make a plaque for that. Simply awesome.


This is the closest shirt I could find for potty mouth Verlander. Someone hasn't made one for last night yet. The censored part is the obvious word.



https://gemandes.com/product/justin-verlander-****-off-alex-shirt/
Ag_07
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Yeah but we need to find a real true lock down closer.
EastCoastAgNc
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Day game for game 2 and game 5...only MLB is stupid enough to play critical playoff games in the middle of the freaking day
Hulla Baller
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EastCoastAgNc said:


Day game for game 2 and game 5...only MLB is stupid enough to play critical playoff games in the middle of the freaking day
Game 5 won't matter since we are winning in 4
The Porkchop Express
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Boiling Denim said:

All I do is Nguyen said:

Like I did for the ALDS here are all of the highlights of our previous ALCS runs, including the bad ones as well.

I hope I get to do one more of these posts

Man that 2021 ALCS is wild.

**** "Babe Ruth" Hernandez
The grand-slam-a-thon
Games 2 and 3 we're effectively wiped from my memory
The My Time mock with Corra screaming noooo
The missed call on Castro may have changed the entire series
The strike-em out throw-em out has to be an Astros all-timer play

I would not be surprised if this ALCS has a similar feel and similar moments to that one
That series might have cemented the need for faster games. 3 of the first 4 went more than 4 hours.

From Wikipedia

lvarez was named the ALCS MVP, having batted 12-for-23 (.522) in the series.[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_American_League_Championship_Series#cite_note-40][40][/url] Seven of his hits came in the last two games; he out-hit the entire Red Sox team in those games, which was the first time in postseason history a player had done so in the final two games of a series.[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_American_League_Championship_Series#cite_note-41][41][/url] The Red Sox, having scored 27 runs in the first 28 innings of the Series, then scored only one run in the last 26 innings.
BMX Bandit
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I completely understand why people don't like weekday day games, but I love them.

Checking out the boys early from school Monday and heading to Minute Maid
BadAggie
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Texas A&M said:

Times he beat Robin Ventura's ass...
Astros - None
Rangers - One

Indisputable evidence he was better as a Ranger.


BFD. There was the time he went at it with Dave Winfield



jkag89
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EastCoastAgNc said:


Two more like this but with different t-shirts please!
jkag89
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Texas A&M said:

Times he beat Robin Ventura's ass...
Astros - None
Rangers - One

Indisputable evidence he was better as a Ranger.
Postseason appearances
Astros - Three
Rangers - None
Texaggie7nine
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Quote:

Game 1 Sunday, 7:15 p.m. (FOX)

Game 2 Monday, 3:37 p.m. (FOX/FS1)
Boo. Exact opposite would be perfect.
7nine
Ag_07
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I've always wonder why the random start time of 3:37?

Why not 3:30, 3:40, or even 3:50? Odd to me
annie88
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Mood.

Texas A&M
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jkag89 said:

Texas A&M said:

Times he beat Robin Ventura's ass...
Astros - None
Rangers - One

Indisputable evidence he was better as a Ranger.
Postseason appearances
Astros - Three
Rangers - None
Some of y'all are wound up just a little too tightly.
annie88
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Prosperdick
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Ag_07 said:

I've always wonder why the random start time of 3:37?

Why not 3:30, 3:40, or even 3:50? Odd to me
The only thing I can think of is something with the pregame show or festivities but it is odd.
cav14
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Mathguy64 said:

Wabs said:

Not every season can only be 60 games. Sorry Doyers,


I regret that I have but one blue star to give to this.

All hail the LA Dodgers! Champions of the 35% long season played without fans, played with players out for random testing and crowned champs after playing in a bubble.
Interesting enough but the NBA LA Lakers also won their most recent championship during the same limited season playing in a bubble.
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